Paul Martin To Exhibit At One Man Show In Elkins

ELKINS, W.Va. — Historical artist Paul R. Martin III will show a one-man exhibit of color pencil Civil War Portraits and Landscapes at the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins from Aug. 16 to Sept. 5. The Opening Artists Reception will be on Thursday, Aug. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation (RMBF) is sponsoring the exhibit to coincide with The First Campaign Seminar & Reunion. The exhibit will feature approximately 30 artworks, each accompanied by an artist’s statement, first-person accounts, poetry and historical notes.

Several artworks created especially for the RMBF and the exhibit will be unveiled. A portion of the sale of all prints, including these new prints, will be donated to the RMBF and the arts center.

Martin said he conceives of his battlefield landscapes during solitary walks across hallowed ground. They evoke the sharp contrast between the serene beauty of the silent fields and the carnage that took place there.

He also creates realistic historical portraits in an attempt to capture the dignity and faults of the personalities depicted. They are hand drawn from period photographs.

Martin lives in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., with his wife and two children. He is a professional historical artist and an art teacher in the Pearl River School District in Rockland County. His works are on permanent display in the Robert E. Lee Civil War Research Center, the Civil War Library and Museum of Philadelphia, West Point, The Pentagon, the United States Congressional Building and hundreds of private collections.

Martin is President of the Rockland County Civil War Round Table. He is a member of the Rockland County Civil War Flags Commission, The Company Of Military Historians, The Army Air Force Historical Society and dozens of other Civil War and preservation groups. He is on the board of the Yorktown Historical Society and the Lincoln Society in Peekskill and is a trustee of the North Carolina South Mountain Monument Fund. He speaks to historical groups throughout the country.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States recently recognized Martin for “patriotic service rendered to the community.”

Martin recently finished a commemorative painting for the USMA Class of 1965. He has created commissioned paintings for a number of groups including the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, North Carolina South Mountain Monument Fund and the 95th New York Historical Society. His painting “The Wheatfield” is the cover for Jay Jorgensen’s book, Gettysburg’s Bloody Wheatfield.

His first historical literary work, They Flew With Tigers, The Story of American Beauty and her crew in the China, Burma, India Theatre during WWII, is due for publication next year.

His artworks are available as limited edition, signed and numbered fine art prints. A portion of the retail sale of every World War II print is donated to the USO and a portion of his Civil War prints sales is donated to specific Civil War preservation and memorial funds.

For more information, go to www.paulmartinart.com or contact Martin at Silent Sentinel Studio, P.O. Box 551, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, (914) 245-8903, prm3@hotmail.com